A Cookie For Coffee Lovers

Coffee and oatmeal. Is that not a perfect way to start the day or what?

Me thinks it’s even better if you add a little chocolate — OK, a lot of chocolate — and a big ol’ heap of buttery macadamia nuts.

Maybe these “Espresso Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookies” aren’t exactly as nutritious as a bowl of steel-cut oatmeal with skim milk and raisins. But man, are these cookies loaded with chewy goodness.

For these cookies, I used a sample of a new product: Barry Callebaut Espresso Chocolate Chunks. No doubt you already know the Callebaut name as a maker of fine professional quality baking chocolate. Here, semisweet chocolate is mixed with vanilla and ground chocolate for rich, smooth tasting chunks that meld the complex bitterness of coffee with the more mellow, slightly sweet taste of chocolate. A 16-ounce bag sells for $8.95 on the King Arthur Flour site.

In keeping with the theme, I adapted an oatmeal recipe from — where else? — the “King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion”I, of course, chose the “chewy” version, since that is my all-time favorite cookie texture. Sure enough, the cookies baked up with crispy edges and a bendable center that I can’t get enough of.

In addition to the espresso chocolate chunks, oats and macadamia nuts, the dough also contains vanilla extract, a whisper of almond extract, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and 1/2 teaspoon espresso powder. For big-time coffee lovers, feel free to add even a tad more espresso powder, if you like.

Then, watch as coffee and oatmeal combine for a new treat perfect for anytime of day.

Espresso Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookies (the Chewy Version)

(Makes about 45 cookies)

This flat cookie has a lovely crisp edge, but bends before it breaks — unlike crunchy cookies, which snap cleanly in two.

I love the royal sceptre! I’m an oatmeal and chocolate chip cookie lover as well as a coffee drinker so you have covered all the bases here. I do have some corn syrup languishing in the cupboard… and a few days off coming up as well!